The One
by StrydeVex
Summary: Set during the journey to Greece on the Argo II. Percy is alone in his cabin aboard the ship with his thoughts and pressures of holding the quest together. Songfic (reference to lyrics) Oneshot


**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

**In the light of finally upgrading my word processing software, I've decided to write a one shot. Those of you who follow me as an author, I'm trying to get back into writing and back in the feel of it, and hopefully I'll be updating my main story (Forbidden) again soon.**

**This one shot is based on a song called The One by Deuce (Discretion is advised, the song is explicit, so you've been warned, though I'll keep to the clean parts for story purposes).**

**Song lyrics will be in****_Italics_**

**I hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think!**

Percy sat alone in his room of the Argo II, staring at the ceiling and thinking about everything that rested on his shoulders in the coming weeks, especially now that the deadline was coming, and the pressure was building on everybody aboard the ship who looked to him as a leader. He couldn't help but feel inadequate. The threat of war between the Romans and the Greeks was still looming over their heads, as well as the rise of Gaia. The pressure, the immense responsibility, and the results of this quest across the ocean, all seemed to rest on his shoulders, seemingly shoving him into the ground, and making each and every choice harder to make.

He felt like he couldn't afford a single mistake, or everything they've fought for would collapse, and it would be his fault. He would make the choice that ended everything, and there would be no one to blame.

The entire crew was edgy, nervous, and seemed to get into arguments more now than ever before, and not just joking, teasing arguments, they were near fights at times, and Percy could do nothing to solve it, to fill his role as leader and calm everybody, reassure them that this would all be fine, and they would manage to win this battle that looked impossible as it grew nearer.

He thought about everyone, about all the arguments he'd witnessed, but most of all, the argument he'd had with Annabeth.

It had been a completely trivial matter, and nobody else on the ship knew about it, but that didn't bury the hurt. Not only was he failing at holding everyone together, he couldn't even keep himself close to the person who he possibly cared most about in the world. Everyone was breaking apart, and there seemed to be nothing he could do about it.

If nothing changed, they would never be able to work together when the time came, that moment that they had to be perfect, to work exactly how they needed to, to finally win.

Percy slipped a hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulled a slip of paper that he'd been carrying with him for a few weeks now. It was just a little note he'd found at a table that probably wasn't even important to anyone else, probably someone's attempt to write some song lyrics, but had given up on and left the paper there, but he couldn't bring himself to throw the paper away after he'd read it. He read it now, again, over the few lines that were seemingly permanent on the paper.

_[Evidently someone has found it necessary to pick me from all songfictions to inform that Copyright restricts me from having the lyrics here. I'm fairly certain that I am allowed to have it, with the citation, because of Fair Use, but as I am not certain in that area, the lyrics have been removed to avoid any issues. I highly suggest you go listen to the song anyway, granted you don't mind explicit lyrics. The chorus was meant to be here for plot purposes. Enjoy the rest of your day, and I hope not to have this issue again]_

Percy folded the paper neatly, and slipped it back into his pocket where he always kept Riptide. Everyone he knew depended on him, and everything he'd ever known could potentially be gone if he didn't manage to hold this together.

He slipped his hands into his pockets to hide the shivering that had begun, and left his cabin to put the mask of a leader back on, and try to keep this from falling apart.

**Please let me know what you thought, and I hope you enjoyed.**


End file.
